Hit Men
by kellisenpai
Summary: AU. Highly trained assassin, Juvia Loxar, is assigned to put the hit out on an infamous criminal, Gray Fullbuster. What happens when she falls in love with a man she is supposed to kill?
1. Target

"Juvia, meet me in my office," Makarov broke in as he passed by Juvia, who was sitting with a few other members at a table in the lobby of the area.

"Yes sir," she nodded, following the extremely short man.

They were currently in their underground building, which everyone referred to as "Fairy Tail." However, Fairy Tail also referred to the group of the highest trained assassins in all of Fiore. Some may call them hit men, but their expertise was above that. Every person in the country had probably heard of them, but in all the years of being together, they were never caught. Makarov had started the group several years ago, disgusted with the other pathetic groups of hit men throughout Magnolia.

Fairy Tail assassins were hired by political figures, gang members, and spiteful business men all over the country. The reason they were so popular is because they _always_ finished the job flawlessly. And among those members, Juvia Loxar was one of the best of the best.

As the two entered the office, Makarov shut the door behind them. Juvia took a seat across the desk, and Makarov strided past her to take a seat on the opposite side.

"I have a job for you," he explained, "but there's a catch. He's one of the most dangerous men in the country. Many people have tried to go after him, but it all ended in their deaths."

Juvia nodded, unphased by the challenge.

"I'm sure you've heard the name 'Gray Fullbuster'?"

Juvia recalled hearing about the infamous man, him being one of the most wanted men in the country. She had never seen his face, but she had heard rumors about the sly man who continuously smuggled narcotics in from other countries. She wasn't surprised someone had placed a hit on him, there had to be an endless number of angry businessmen who wanted his head.

She nodded in response again.

"Good. Then you know what you're up against," he snickered, starting to laugh. "You know I hate being too serious. But you really must be careful, Juvia."

Juvia warmly smiled at Makarov. She was thankful to be a part of Fairy Tail. She was previously involved in another popular group, but they got busted a few years back while she was on a mission. Somehow, Makarov had heard about her and adopted her into Fairy Tail.

"What information do you have on him?" Juvia inquired after a few seconds.

"Ah! Right," Makarov remembered, pulling a file out from inside of his desk. "Let's see, Gray Fullbuster.. His current whereabouts are suspected to be in Magnolia. He is currently traveling with his business associate, Natsu Dragneel. Here's the most recent picture of him," he went on, holding out a mug shot of said man.

Juvia took the picture in her hands, and glanced at the scowling man looking at her from in the picture. She was a little caught off guard, surprised at how handsome he was. Usually the men and women who had hits on their heads were, well, extremely unpleasant looking.

"Oh, and, the reward is 5,000,000 yen," he added, as Juvia stared at the photo.

The usually expressionless woman felt her jaw drop a bit, "W-what?"

"He's a vicious criminal. People want him dead!" He laughed, standing up. "Good luck, Juvia-chan!"

She followed his lead out the door, pondering the reward. _Are these people mad? Is he really worth _that _much?_

* * *

"Shut up you idiot! Someone will hear you!" Gray exclaimed as loud as he could while still whispering.

Natsu smacked his hand over his own mouth, trying to contain his roaring laughter.

"Sorry, sorry! I just can't believe you got away with that!" Natsu giggled, as they both entered the rundown apartment that the two shared.

Gray had just finished smuggling a new batch of drugs from some stupid dealers whom he had double crossed.

_It wasn't anything special_, Gray thought. He had been doing the same thing for years. He would smuggle, steal, and rip off whatever he could get his hands on. Once obtaining said narcotics, he would sell them at an extreme price to other dealers and customers. It was such an easy way to make a living and he was so _good_ at it. He had never been caught once, despite having many killers after him. The only drawback was how unhealthily illegal it was. It's not like he _wanted_ to be one of the most wanted criminals in the country, that was just how his life had unfortunately played out. The part he hated the most was the people he had had to kill in the past out of self defense. _It was either kill or be killed_, he reminded himself. Either way, it was a heavy burden he didn't enjoy carrying.

He used to work alone, but that was a lot of effort. A couple of years back, he met a customer that was so adamant on joining his line of work, he didn't have much of a choice but to let the idiot join. He didn't really want to drag Natsu down the path he was on, but he was asking for it.

Natsu was in charge of distributing the stolen narcotics to various dealers. The fiery-tempered man always complained because he wanted to do the "cool" stuff that Gray did, but Gray drew the line there, considering he didn't necessarily wish to have to deal with several hits on Natsu's head as well.

Closing the door behind him, Natsu started again, "Tell me again about that guy's reaction!" He boomed, wiping a tear from his eye.

Gray chuckled a bit at the thought of the head dealer he had just betrayed, "well, as I was running out of his house with the goods, he started screaming something like 'COME BACK HERE FULLBUSTER! YOU AREN'T A REAL MAN!'" Gray mocked, recalling the large white-haired man.

They both busted into a fit of laughter, clutching at their sides. They were interrupted by a loud growl from Natsu's stomach.

"Wah, Gray I'm starving!" Natsu whined.

Stuffing the stolen merchandise in a safe underneath the ragged couch, "I am too. Come on, let's go to the pub," Gray replied, as the two of them got up to leave as soon as they had come home.

* * *

Juvia had spent all afternoon on a train ride to Magnolia. Since her meeting this morning with Makarov, she had been dead set on assassinating her target as soon as possible. She always had a strong sense of justice, and despised criminals. Especially ones like the one she was currently assigned to kill.

With her sense of justice, it wasn't always easy for her to kill people. But she reminded herself that they were criminals, and she was a vigilante that would make them pay for their sins. Of course, people didn't just put hits out on evil people, they put them on people who they needed out of the way as well, evil or not. However, Juvia tried not to think about this part, and made herself focus on the job at hand.

As she finally arrived in Magnolia, she began her search. The sun was nearly going down, but she was ready to complete her mission. She was dressed in her usual attire, a long sleeve black dress with a warm black hat, no matter what the weather was. Her elegant blue hair with loose waves flowing down far below her shoulders. She found herself frowning, something that usually happened while on the job. Just because she was one of the best assassins Fiore has to offer, didn't mean she ever _enjoyed_ it.

She had been doing some research on Gray Fullbuster before she left, and found out some of his usual hangouts. The one he visited the most often was a popular bar in town, called "Loke's pub."

Juvia made her way towards the pub, only to see the silhouette of her target sitting right next to the window, across from his partner in crime, Natsu Dragneel. _He makes it so easy!_ She thought.

She climbed into a tree on the other side of the road, across from the pub, to hide her body. She hated hiding in trees, but the sun was still somewhat up, and she couldn't just start shooting in broad daylight. She also didn't have the patience at the moment to way until night time to assassinate the vicious criminal.

Crouching on a tree branch, she set up her gun. She had a clear shot straight at his head, and she focused her sight on the man in her view. This time, she _really_ looked at him. He was laughing at something his friend had said to him, smiling ear to ear, his eyes scrunched up as he laughed.

Her jaw dropped for the second time today.

_He's.. so... beautiful..._

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading! c: I'll try to update as soon as I can!


	2. Loke's Pub

Juvia shook her head at herself, _Juvia is being silly_, she thought. She aimed the gun once more at the corrupt man. Again, she looked at his face. He was calming down from his fit of laughter, and was now smiling and conversing with the man across the table from him. Juvia was confused; the villains she went after were always furious and miserable looking. They weren't supposed to go out and have fun with their friends, that would make them entirely too human, making it so much harder for Juvia to kill them.

_Juvia should kill him now_, her mind buzzed. She couldn't make herself pull the trigger. She scooted away from the gun, inching in closer to the core of the tree. Juvia pondered on how she was going to kill this man. She also pondered on his interesting semblance. _Juvia wants to get a closer look… He can't really be this ecstatic with his terrible lifestyle, can he? _She sighed inwardly to herself.

Mentally screaming at herself, she climbed down the base of the tree. As she hopped down to the ground, she straightened out her dress. She noticed how the sun had finally gone down, and thought about how much time she had wasted sitting and contemplating up in the tree.

She hastily walked towards the road, crossing it as she told herself how unprofessional she was being. _Juvia should turn back! Juvia should turn back now!_ She scrunched her eyes and balled up her fists, but she couldn't stop the overflowing emotion of curiosity. After a few seconds that passed by ever so slowly, she found herself standing in front of the door of the building, staring it down. _What if Juvia screws up the entire mission? What if that man knows who Juvia is, and tries to kill Juvia? _All of her thoughts warned her not to open the door, but her hands moved on their own.

There was a small ding above the door as she stepped in, a few customers looked her way, and glanced back to what they were doing beforehand. The loud buzzing of several people talking put her more at ease, as it hid her presence a bit. The place looked very warm and cozy, wooden floors and walls all around. Various signs hung up on the walls, along with pictures of customers that had visited throughout the years. Juvia walked toward the bar, and took a seat at the end of the counter. From the corner of her eyes, she scoped out the area for the bandit. She located him sitting at a booth, and had an almost perfect view of him. The pink ball of hair sitting in front of him blocked his face a bit. However, she could clearly see that her target was wearing a white jacket that went down past his waist, his dark hair accentuating the features on his face. Juvia felt her face going hot, a feeling that she rarely experienced. She shook her head at herself, turning back to face the bar. _What in the world is Juvia thinking?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a dazzling voice from the other side of the counter, "Welcome to my pub, gorgeous!" He called.

She turned up to see a well dressed man wearing sunglasses, even though it was night and he was indoors. His golden-brown hair was shining under the lights hanging from the ceiling.

"T-thank you," she replied, not sure of what to say.

"I haven't seen you around before! I'm Loke. Let me get you a drink, on the house," he beamed, clapping his hands together and turning around to mix various bottles of alcohol together. Juvia wasn't much of a drinker, she deemed it unprofessional to get drunk and out of control. However, she couldn't just refuse the drink now that he had already started making it. After a few moments, he turned back around with a glass, filled with clear liquid. Juvia didn't know anything about alcohol, so she had no idea what it could be. She stared at it wide-eyed for a few seconds before Loke spoke up again.

"Go ahead, try it!" he dared.

"Okay. Thank you," she repeated, picking up the glass and putting it to her lips. She almost spit up at the taste and smell, and the drink burned down her throat as she forced herself to swallow it.

"No problem!" he laughed, turning to tend to a couple of new customers who had sat down at the bar. Juvia placed the drink back on the counter, and spun around in her seat to stare at the smuggler again, studying his actions and attitude.

* * *

Gray took another gulp of his drink, laughing at the conversation him and Natsu were having.

"… And then I was like, 'I'm all fired up!'" Natsu went on with the story he had told over and over again, although the details changed a bit every time.

Gray started zoning out as he noticed bright blue hair across the room, sitting at the bar, from the corner of his eye. He glanced up to look at her, as she took a sip of her drink. He told himself to look away; that he shouldn't stare at women, but he couldn't help it, she was just so damn _beautiful_.

He noticed her eccentric wavy hair sprawled out down her back, her dark black dress hiding some features he wished he could see. _Wait, what?_ He mentally slapped himself, flustered at the thought. _I'm so creepy!_

The mysterious woman circled around in her seat, staring straight at Gray. Their eyes met, and both of them embarrassingly looked away.

"… And then he… Are you even listening to me?" Natsu blabbed, waving his hands in front of Gray's face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," he muttered. Natsu realized he was staring at something until a few moments ago, so he whirled around to look. "Oooh Gray! She's cute!" he blurted, turning back to face a glowing red Gray.

"S-shut up!"

"You should go talk to her!" he urged.

"No way! " Gray pouted, crossing his arms and turning his head to look out the window.

"Oh come on! You never talk to girls," Natsu whined.

"I said shut up!" he growled, his face glowing again.

"You better get up and ask her out, or I'm going to do it for you," he commanded, slamming his hands on the table, and standing up.

"Stop!" Gray stood up as well, "I hate you so much!" he uttered, turning out of the table to walk down towards the bar.

Juvia felt her heart skip a beat, and she turned back towards the bar, hoping he wouldn't notice her. _Oh this is bad, this is so bad. Don't look at Juvia, don't look at Juvia, don't look at…_

"Hi…," Gray started, hating how awkward he was, "I'm Gray."

Juvia felt the color drain out of her face. _Juvia is definitely not supposed to talk to dead men walking! _

"What's your name?" he queried, trying to keep up a fake calmness.

"Juvia," she replied, before thinking. _What is Juvia doing?! What if he knows who Juvia is?! Juvia is so dumb! So very dumb!_

"That's a pretty name," he commented. Juvia felt her face go warm again.

"T-thank you," she shyly acknowledged.

Gray tapped his fingers on his legs, not sure of what to say. Seconds passed, but it felt like years. _What the hell do I say now?!_

"Do you want to hang out?" he bravely broke in.

Juvia felt conflicting emotions. Of _course Juvia can't 'hang out' with him! Juvia needs to kill him!_ She screamed in her mind _…But if Juvia gets him alone, it would be easier to kill him…_

"Juvia would love to," she nodded. Gray smiled, finding her way of speaking endearing.

* * *

The two had exited the building, and were now walking down the street. The busy city gleamed brightly around them, but both of them stayed quiet.

Juvia was pondering what would be a good time to pull out the knife hidden in the inside of her sleeve. Gray was pondering what he should say. Surprisingly enough, it was Juvia who spoke up first.

"So, what do you do for a living?" She inquired, curious to see if he would lie about his occupation or not.

Gray felt his stomach tighten a bit, "I run my own business," _It's not exactly a lie_, he thought. "And you?"

"I'm a real estate agent," she confidently lied. She slid the knife down into her hand, flicking out the blade, and hiding it behind her side, which Gray could not see.

A few minutes passed, and she waited for the right time to kill him, but she was curious as to why he was now being so quiet.

"I'm sorry," he spoke, leaning his head down, stopping in his tracks on the side walk. Juvia kept walking a few steps before realizing he stopped, and turned around to look at him.

"What's wrong?"

In the few minutes he was silent, he remembered the reason he never had girlfriends. It was so dangerous! If anyone found out about him being with a girl, she would easily get abducted and most likely raped or killed. The people he associated wouldn't think twice about using a woman to get back at Gray for the various twisted things he did. The only reason he was able to be partners with Natsu was because he knew Natsu could defend himself. If he was seen with Juvia, he didn't even want to think of what may happen to her.

"I have to do something…" he badly lied, "can I call you a taxi?"

Juvia was caught off guard. _Did he see Juvia's knife_? She wondered as she slid it back up her sleeve.

"No, that's ok. Juvia will be fine," she answered.

Gray felt his heart sink in worry, afraid she would get hurt by someone possibly lurking in the shadows of the alleyways. He was well known in this area, and very hated as well.

"Well, will you let me walk you home?" he pushed again, trying not to show his true emotions.

"Juvia doesn't live around here, Juvia is just traveling… for work," she stammered.

"Where were you planning on sleeping?"

Juvia looked around, not sure of what to say. To be honest, she hadn't thought of sleeping plans at all. She figured she would come to Magnolia, get the job done, and head back to Fairy Tail all in the same day, but it was obviously getting too late for that.

Juvia chuckled a bit, "Juvia hasn't really thought about that yet… a hotel, maybe?"

Gray noticeably changed his expression, showing his concern. "There aren't very many hotels around here, but the ones we have are probably filled, you know? It's holiday season," he stated motioning to the chilly weather.

Juvia placed her hand on her chin, thinking about this. She also thought about the look on his face. _Why does he care? Isn't he supposed to be a merciless criminal?_

"You… could stay at my place, if you want," he mumbled.

Juvia felt blood light up her face, her thoughts unable to form coherent sentences. Gray noticed her face, and his turned the same color.

"I-I didn't mean anything weird by it! I just wanted to make sure you would be safe!" he stuttered.

If her face could go redder, it would. _Why does he care?! He is not supposed to be nice to Juvia! He is supposed to be dying!_

"J-Juvia couldn't p-possibly do that!" she spluttered, bringing her clenched fists up to her chest.

Gray stared at her, and grabbed her wrist. "_Please_ let me do this for you," he convinced.

Juvia stared at him, his eyes pleading. _He is really so stupid._

_Fine then. Juvia will just kill you in your sleep._

* * *

AN: First of all, I want to apologize for all the typos in the first chapter! I just recently installed Word, and I was using Note Pad before, which doesn't tell you if you have any misspellings. Hopefully there isn't any in this chapter, and if there is, please let me know so I can fix it! :)

Also, thank you so much for all the reviews! You are all so sweet! They really motivated me to write this next chapter.

Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you like it! Again, I'll try to update as soon as I can!


	3. Nights

After several minutes of walking and meaningless small talk, the two arrived at a large apartment building. Juvia noticed how some of the bricks looked crumbly and how the paint on the doors and windows was chipping.

"Sorry, it's not much, but at least it's something," Gray laughed.

Gray stepped up to the building, leaving his back wide open. Juvia calculated all the different ways she could kill him at that moment, but acted on none of them. As they walked inside, they crossed through the lobby to climb up the stairs. They echoed and clicked as they stepped their way up to the fourth floor. The hallway was filled with dust and stained carpet. Gray walked up to room 404, and stopped in front of it, pulling out a key.

As they stepped inside, Juvia immediately noticed the musty smell. The carpet in the room was even more stained than it was in the hallway, and the dust covered the room like new fallen snow. In the small area that was the kitchen, dishes were stacked up in the sink far above its intended capacity. The small living room area had a ragged cough with fabric peeling off in all different directions. Across from it was an old-timey T.V., electrical cords loosely hanging from the back of it, plugged into a very dangerous looking outlet.

"Sorry, it's messy, we're not home often, so the mess kind of piles up," he apologized again, rubbing the back of his head and scrunching his eyes.

"Juvia does not mind," she smiled. _Juvia won't have to be here for long._

In the distance, there was a faint sound of snoring.

"Looks like Natsu got here before us," Gray commented, rolling his eyes. "Follow me, you can sleep in my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch."

"Oh no! Juvia doesn't want to intrude!" she squeaked, waving her hands frantically in front of her.

Gray chuckled at her reaction, "It's fine, really!" Juvia pouted her lip and sighed in defeat, but didn't argue.

At this, Gray took her hand and led her down the narrow hallway. Juvia's face burned at the sudden contact, tempted to rip her hand away, but she let him hold it anyway. She was surprised at how extremely cold his hand was; it sent chills down her spine.

They passed by Natsu's room, and Juvia peeked in to see the pink haired man sprawled out, face down on his single sized bed.

Gray's room was a little farther down, on the opposite side of the hallway. He led her in, still holding her hand. With his free hand, he flicked on the light switch. Aside from a few dirty clothes tossed on the ground, the room was fairly clean.

"So," he drawled, "make yourself at home, I guess."

"Thank you," she smiled.

Unsure of what to do or say, Gray let go of her hand and turned to walk down the hallway to the living room. It was getting pretty late, and he was tired. He laid down on the uncomfortable couch, and attempted to go to sleep.

Juvia, left alone in the room, walked over to sit on the bed. He had left so quickly she wasn't sure what to do. She had never been in criminal's house. She slipped off her boots, and laid on the bed. She placed her hands behind her head, and crossed her ankles. _Juvia will wait until Gray is asleep, that will be the perfect time._

She waited and waited, not sure how long it would take for him to fall asleep. As the time passed by, she thought about all the strange things that had happened today. The only reason he wasn't dead yet was because he was just so _intriguing_. Criminals weren't supposed to be happy. Criminals weren't supposed to be kind. Criminals weren't supposed to be _people_.

After what felt like an hour, Juvia got up, slipping the knife back out of her sleeve. She could try the small gun that was hidden in one of her discarded boots, but that would be too loud. She tip-toed down the hallway, and stopped in front of Natsu's room. She silently closed the door, just in case Gray were to cry out.

She gripped the switchblade tightly in her hand as she walked into the living room. Silently striding over to the couch, she stared at the man below her. From the steady rise and fall of his chest, she knew he was asleep. She studied his face, it was so relaxed. If she wasn't mistaken, she could see the corners of his mouth faintly twitching into a smile. She would have chuckled at this, if not for what she was about to have to do.

She brought the blade close to his skin, slowly moving as she did so. Usually when she assassinated people, she had no hesitations, but she couldn't bring herself to abruptly stab him to death.

She pressed the cold, flat side of the metal against his jaw line, lightly gliding it across his smooth chin, not damaging the fragile skin. _Such a shame to waste such a pretty face..._

She picked the metal up, this time with intent to kill. As the flat surface left his face, Gray's eyes fluttered open.

"J-Juvia?" He lazily mumbled, waking up from his slumber.

"I'm sorry, Gray," she darkly apologized, her eyes looking murderous. She didn't know where the apology came from, but she felt it was necessary.

His eyes flew wide open in realization of what she was holding.

"What are you do-!" he began to exclaim, but her free hand came up to his mouth, cutting him off. She had brought her knee up to his stomach, attempting to keep him steady. He writhed violently, trying to escape her iron hold.

He managed to tumble down to the ground, but before her could get up to defend himself, she had him pinned down. She brought one knee on either side, both holding down one of his arms. She brought her left hand to clamp down on his mouth again, and her right arm held the knife horizontally against his thought. She stared into his eyes, slow realization and acceptance showing in them.

She pressed the blade closer to his sensitive throat, a single bead of blood running down the side. As soon as she saw the blood, she stopped pressing, and closed her eyes. _Just do it, Juvia!_ She told herself.

But she couldn't. She felt her heart sink as she realized it was futile. She could not bring herself to kill this man, not earlier, and not now. She sighed, and loosely slumped down on his stomach, letting his mouth and arms go free.

"Juvia can't do it," she whispered.

He stared at her, utterly shocked. He easily understood now that she was an assassin, and he knew he was really about to be killed this time. So… why didn't she?

Other assassins had come extremely close to killing him, but it wasn't hard to stop them. But that was mainly because the other times he wasn't asleep, and his opponents weren't beautiful women.

His perplexed face must have shown, because she smiled in the slightest. He wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what.

They stayed like that for a few moments before Juvia realized that she was straddling him. Her face glowed red as she jumped up to the couch.

He followed her lead, now very alert and sitting on the other side of the couch.

"So you're a hit man?" he inquired quietly.

She slowly nodded, closing her eyes again.

More moments passed. They sat in the silence for what felt like hours. Juvia gripped the edges of her skirt, the knife still in her hand.

Her eyes flitted around the room. There wasn't much to look at, but on the top of one shelf she noticed a picture frame. The picture inside of it had two boys, one with white hair, and one with dark. Also, there was a woman with dark short hair standing behind them, her arms wrapped around both of their shoulders. As she focused her eyes in, she realized that the dark haired boy was Gray. _He has a family too? Even more reason not to kill him._

She started to wonder if any of the other people she had killed had families, or if they were like Gray at all. Her thoughts were interrupted by a dark mumble she could barely hear.

"You said you couldn't kill me… Why can't you?" His curiosity was getting the best of him, and he couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Juvia…" she hesitated, unsure of how to reply, "Juvia thinks Gray is too kind to kill."

Gray inwardly scoffed, knowing that she would disagree if she had seen some of the things he had done. But then again, he remembered that she probably knew all about him if she really was an assassin.

"Are you in a group?" Gray asked, obviously meaning an assassin group.

"Fairy Tail," she nodded. She tried to understand why she was answering his questions so willingly, but couldn't figure out an answer.

Gray felt his jaw drop a little, "F-Fairy Tail?" His thoughts flooded to the famous killing group. Throughout the years, he had always sincerely hoped that no one would go out of their way to place a hit on him through Fairy Tail, because even he knew his death would be imminent in that case.

"They would probably throw Juvia out if they knew what she was doing," she smiled sadly, turning her face back to the man across from her.

There was another long silence; Gray wasn't sure how to reply. He didn't know if he should kill her, throw her out, or try to make amends.

Juvia stood up, knowing that she needed to leave. Before stepping away from the couch, she whispered again, "Juvia is _so_ sorry."

At that, she turned to walk out the door, not bothering to get her boots that were in Gray's room.

Gray stood up as well, right before Juvia got to the door handle.

"I'm not mad at you. You were just doing your job," he muttered. Juvia turned back at him, her eyes widened a little in surprise. She was half expecting him to try to kill her while her back was turned.

"This may be stupid of me," he started, "but you can still stay the night."

"W-what?" Juvia sputtered, turning all the way back around to him. _Is he really that stupid?_

"I-it's still dangerous out there! Assassin or not, I can't just leave you to the streets," he blurted, flustered. "Let's make a deal not to kill each other in our sleep?"

A small smile grew on Juvia's lips. "Deal."

* * *

AN: Yay update. I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but I hope you like it! ;-; Thanks for reading!

And again, thank you so much for all of your reviews!


	4. Jobs

She had tossed and turned all night in, unable to fall asleep, and contemplating whether or not she should sneak out during the night or first thing in the morning. However, her decision was decided for her after she fell asleep due to an extremely exhausting day. She slept in Gray's bed, like he had originally planned, and somehow he also went to sleep on the couch.

She awoke to a piercingly shrill voice demanding to be let in. "Natsu, Gray! Wake up! Open the door!" She yelled, rapping forcefully on the door, no doubt waking their neighbors up as well. However, the two beasts that slept there were still sound asleep.

As the voice continued to nag for a good five minutes, Juvia decided to get up. Her hair was a mess, sprawling out in every direction, one of her socks was kicked off, and there were several wrinkles in her dress. She grasped for her knife, hiding it up her sleeve, in case it was anyone suspicious. She crept down the hallway passing by Natsu's room, noting the loud snores coming from behind the closed door. She was surprised he hadn't woken up yet. As she walked into the living room she was even more surprised that Gray hadn't woken up either, considering how much closer to the front door than she was.

At the door, the voice continued to beat against the wood, "I _know_ you guys are in there! Let me i-," she was cut off by Juvia abruptly opening the door, an early morning scowl apparent on her face.

Juvia glared at the woman before her, already disliking her. Her bright blonde hair and overly perky face glowed in contrast to the rundown walls behind her.

The woman stared for a moment, he eyes widening and her mouth dropping before she smiled. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't realize they had company!" She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. Juvia didn't reply as she stared down the blonde, face unmoving. The girl took this moment to look at the other in front of her, "Wow! Did Gray finally get a girlfriend or something?"

Juvia's cheeks flushed red. "_Eh?!"_

"Yeah I didn't think so; you're way too hot for him," she giggled behind her hand, and Juvia continued to stare at her in awe. "By the way, I'm Lucy, a friend of Natsu and Gray's."

She stuck out her hand for a handshake, and Juvia felt obligated to take it. She slid her knife up her sleeve and shook Lucy's hand. "Juvia," she replied coldly.

"Do you mind if I come in?" she bubbled, withdrawing her hand. Juvia wondered to herself why Lucy was asking Juvia, since she obviously didn't live here, but she didn't voice her curiosity. She stepped aside, clearing the way for the blonde to walk in. She loudly closed the door behind her upon seeing the slumbering man lazily sprawled out on the couch.

"Gray! Wake up you lazy idiot! Did you not hear me at the door?!" she scolded as she stomped towards him. He yawned and turned over into the cushions of the couch in response. "Don't you dare ignore me! _You're_ the one who told me to wake you guys up this early!" He grumbled something incoherent, angering her further. She kicked the couch repeatedly until he slowly rose up. His hair was equally as messy as Juvia's, and for some reason almost all of his clothes were missing.

"Alright, alright I'm up," he groggily mumbled.

"Good," Lucy turned to stomp down to Natsu's room; Juvia could hear her ranting and lecturing the half-asleep man about how lazy and irresponsible he was.

As Juvia stood in the kitchen, she realized her chance to sneak out before anyone woke up was over.

Gray turned his head, "Oh, Juvia," he commented, suddenly noticing her.

"Juvia was just leaving," she muttered, shifting her gaze to break their eye contact.

"This early?" he blurted. He had been thinking all night of all the things he wanted to ask and talk to her about.

Juvia nodded in response, making her way into the room down the hallway to get her shoes. Gray stayed put on the couch and contemplated on what to say. As she passed by Natsu's door, she heard Lucy continuously nagging him.

After she slipped on her shoes, she strode back to the living room, and Gray continued to stare at her.

"Are you going back to Fairy Tail?" he shot, standing up from the couch.

Juvia noticed that he was only wearing his boxers, but ignored the lack of clothing. "Yes," she lied, knowing that she couldn't return after completely failing a mission.

Before Gray could ask any more questions, she was already half way out the door.

"Goodbye," she chimed as she closed the door behind her. For a moment, Gray continued to stare at the door, surprised that she left so early. _It's probably for the best_, he sighed inwardly.

Lucy and Natsu walked around the corner, Lucy looking very irritated and Natsu spilling drool out the side of his mouth.

"Ah, where did Juvia go?" Lucy queried.

"She left."

Lucy thought about questioning him further, but as she noted that he looked rather upset, she decided not to pry.

"…So why did you guys want me to wake you up this early?" Lucy asked, changing the subject.

"We have a job," Gray replied, slipping on some pants and a coat, "and there's no alarm clock louder than you."

* * *

As Juvia roamed aimlessly around Magnolia, she pondered on what she should do. _Juvia can't return to Fairy Tail, and if she does, they will just send another person to kill Gray._

She cursed herself for actually caring about him living or not. She knew that he was destined to die somewhere in the back of her mind; but she knew she couldn't be the one to do it.

_Maybe if Juvia explains the situation… _she sighed. She would need a while before she could think of a decent plan. _Maybe Juvia could pretend like she killed Gray!_

She shook her head at herself, knowing that the entire situation was hopeless.

Juvia attempted to distract herself with the town and all the people running around joyfully. _Juvia wishes her life was this carefree_, she thought, noting the children playing in the streets.

She turned her head to watch them run down the street, and she noticed two familiar figures advancing her way. Juvia quickly jumped behind a corner, and peeped her head to confirm the two men. _Juvia should have known they would be around town_, she scolded.

* * *

"Jeez I am not looking forward to dealing with this guy," Natsu complained.

"Stop whining," Gray threatened back, shoving his hands in his pockets as the two trudged down the road.

"Someone's in a bad mood!" the pink-haired man teased, "Are you mad because that girl left?"

"Shut up!" Gray hadn't told Natsu about the events of last night, and didn't plan to. However, he didn't enjoy letting Natsu think that she had ditched him for other reasons.

Nearby, ears perked up at the mention of herself. Juvia wondered why Gray hadn't told Natsu about her, but she forgot the thought as the voices inched closer. She hid herself in the shadow of the building as she watched the two pass by.

"Anyway," Natsu started, "do you really think this will work? I hear this guy is pretty smart; and strong too…"

"Who knows," Gray scoffed, obviously still bitter about their previous conversation.

As the two sauntered by the area where Juvia was hiding, she slyly followed behind them, curious as to what they were talking about. She kept her distance to make sure they didn't notice her.

"Wah! He's going to kill us," Natsu whined. Gray ignored the comment, and closed his eyes in irritation.

Juvia listened in carefully, trying to figure out who they were concerned about. However, their conversation stopped as all three of them heard a shriek in the distance.

"Stop it!" the voice cried. Juvia looked as to where the voice was coming from, and found it coming from a small girl. She was surrounded by three large men, who were trying to grab the bags of food she was carrying. "Stop! I paid for those!" Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Come on little girl, if you hand over the food maybe we won't take you with us," one of the men smirked. Juvia twisted her face into a look of disgust; she utterly despised men who picked on young girls. She was about to go defend her when Gray went running up to the men.

"Step away," he growled, "and maybe I won't kill you."

"Eh?" another one of the men called, "just what are you going to do?" The three of them joined together to laugh.

Before they could say anything else, one of the men was flipped onto the ground. Juvia covered her mouth partly in shock, and partly to keep herself from saying anything.

Gray turned to another one of the men and kicked him square in the face, causing his nose to bleed. The last of the three men took off running in the opposite direction.

Gray scoffed as he watched the coward scurry down the street, but instead of following him he knelt down to the near crying girl.

"Are you ok?" he asked in a surprisingly soft voice.

The girl sniffled, "Yes, thank you."

"What's your name?" Gray asked as he helped her pick up the contents of her bags that had been dropped to the ground somewhere amidst the chaos.

"Wendy," she smiled, "and yours?"

"Gray," he grinned back as he stood up, "well, see you around!" He turned around to jog back to Natsu who was impatiently waiting.

"You're too nice for your own good," Natsu taunted.

"Shut up," Gray rolled his eyes, as they began to travel again.

All the while Juvia was completely blown away with how kind he had been. However, she pushed it to the back of her mind as she continued to follow the two men to their destination.

* * *

"Here we are," Gray confirmed as the two stepped up the abandoned warehouse. Juvia wasn't far behind, and she still went unnoticed by the oblivious men.

Natsu nervously crossed his arms as Gray knocked on the door.

After a moment, an extremely tall orange-haired man answered the door.

"Gildarts!" Gray faked a smile, "So nice to see you again."

The man scoffed and jerked his head, signaling the two to come in. They disappeared behind the door, leaving Juvia alone in her thoughts.

_Did he say Gildarts? Gildarts Clive? _She shook her head, _that couldn't have possibly been _that_ Gildarts._ She didn't get a good look at the one they called Gildarts, but she figured there was no way that the most infamous drug dealer in Fiore could be in here, in _Magnolia_, of all places…

* * *

AN: I'm _so_ sorry this took so long! I've been really busy lately ;-;

Also, thank you for all the sweet reviews! You're too nice :)

I hope you enjoy the chapter!


End file.
